Not going to lie, the cursive lettering was one of the more difficult things I've painted on my nails, but it was so worth it :) Even if you don't have a special someone to share this holiday with, this design is still perfect, sans the name in the heart.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

My old high school's jazz band visited my university to perform at a jazz festival that was being held on campus. My boyfriend and many close friends are in jazz band, so I had to attend of course! I painted my nails in my high school's colors (blue and gold) in support of them :)

Colors:Blue: Revlon - Indigo NightGold: Nina - Big Spender

Just a blue base coat with some simple taped gold lines. Nothing fancy, but it kind of reminds me of what the collars on the marching band uniforms looked like :) Sadly, I didn't wait long enough for top coat and smeared some of the blue :(

Thursday, January 24, 2013

My roommate is a University of Florida Gators fan, so I decided to paint some Gator colored chevrons on her nails.

Colors:Blue: Revlon - Indigo NightOrange: Nina - Tangerine Dream

This is a taped design. Took me quite a while to cut the pieces of tape to be the right size, but only because I'm a perfectionist. Otherwise, this was a very easy design. I didn't take the tape off soon enough, hence the scraggly edges on the chevrons. The orange polish was also hopelessly runny, so that's the deal with the orange-y mess on her ring finger. No time for cleanup tonight :/

I participated in Zoya's 3 free polish "giveaway" (I put giveaway in quotes because, while the polish was free, the made you pay $10 for shipping...still an awesome deal though!). I just got them in the mail yesterday and I can't wait to try them out!

Left to right:Kierra, Holly, Elisa

There were SO many colors to choose from, and it took me three days to decide, but these were the three colors I decided on. I don't have just a normal green or red (both which I think are a staple in any nail polish collection), so I decided to seize this opportunity to obtain some! Kierra is SOOO gorgeous and it's going to be the first one I try out. Holly and Elisa are perfect as well, and I think they'll definitely come into good use when Christmas rolls around again.

This is just the box they came in. The package also came with a pamphlet of all their colors, upcoming and current.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

I was feeling in the mood for something Spring-timey to combat all this cold weather and cloudy days. Here is my first attempt at hand painted cherry blossoms! I am pretty dang proud of them! :)

I definitely think this is pretty decent for a first attempt. I painted the branches with a detail brush which is why they are so thick. I don't have a small striper just yet, so if you have one, I definitely recommend using that instead. I made the flowers with a dotting tool and I put rhinestones in the center of the flowers on my ring finger as an accent. I was immediately unhappy with them as soon as I placed them down :/ I feel they cover too much of the flower, but, what's done is done and they don't look too bad. I also added glitter over top which I think gives some nice dimension.

Colors:

Teal: China Glaze - Aquadelic

Black: NYC - no name

White: Nina - French White

Pink: Donna Michell - no name

Glitter: L.A. Colors - no name

(sorry for all the no-names...I have a lot of random drug/dollar store brands)

Just another view of my left hand

My right hand. I painted this with my non-dominant (left) hand, and I don't think I did too bad of a job! I will say, this design lends a lot of room for mistakes, so with an unsteady non-dominant hand like mine, if a branch ends up a little more crooked than I had planned, it's okay! Definitely a very forgiving nail design for those who don't have as much control over their non-dominant hand like me.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

I just got this color yesterday at Sally's and couldn't wait to try it out.

Took this immediately after application. This is also without a topcoat because I later on I decided to add some glitter on top.

This is what it looks like with glitter. In the future, I probably will not do this because I feel it takes away from the integrity of the color.

Overall I really REALLY like this color a lot. I'm rather fair-skinned, so I think it is a good contrast against my skin tone. This is the first time I've painted my nails with China Glaze and I was extremely happy with the results. The consistency on the polish was perfect, and it didn't leave brush strokes or smears of any kind.

Here are most of the manis I've done over the past few years. I've done quite a few more in the past, but never thought to take a picture of them! :( The majority of them are pre-cleanup, so sorry about that! I'm definitely learning as I go and always finding new ways to do things. So constructive criticism is definitely welcome! :)

One of my very first. Did this for our first football game my senior year. Apologies for the poor quality. Not sure of the colors I used here.

Another one of my very first that I got from this YouTube tutorial.In the tutorial she used black, but I decided to use a dark blue instead.

Base color: NYC Skin Tight Denim.

Dots: a bunch of random polishes I borrowed from my younger cousin and I do not recall the names.

My first attempt at zebras stripes. I later attempted to paint them on all my nails, but failed miserably :/

Accent nail mani. Not sure what to call the gold flecks. It's not exactly glitter. Confetti maybe? Not long after this, I trimmed of few of the confettis sticking off the top because they kept getting caught on things.

Base color: Finger Paints - Art Dealer Teal-er

Did this not long before Christmas. Hand painted Christmas tree. I also painted one on my right hand but, being right handed, it wasn't nearly as good.

Base color: Destined "no-name"

Tree: Finger Paints - Art Dealer Teal-er

These are my grandmother's nails. I did some hand-painted holly berries on them. She already had her nails painted with a sheer polish. She wanted me to paint something Christmas-y on her nails, so I just painted over the polish she already had on. I didn't have any of my brushes with me, so I did this with a bobby pin and a tooth pick. Took me quite a while, but I like how it turned out :)

Another accent nail mani. This blue reminds me a little bit of Essie's Butler Please. Not quite a dupe, but kind of close. This was my first time using a Revlon polish and I must say, I was very impressed. This was ONE coat of polish. I felt the polish was dense and dark enough to not need another. I also really loved the brush, which is thicker than normal brushes. Something like this. It definitely made application a much quicker process. Very VERY pleased with this polish. It is definitely one of my favorites :)

Base color: Revlon Colorstay - Indigo Night

Glitter: L'Oreal - Sparklicious

I definitely have a thing for accent nails. Did this for new years because it matched my dress. Kind of reminds me of mermaid nails :) I like this duochrome a lot, but the only thing I was a little disappointed about was the color doesn't look exactly like what it does in the bottle. That's okay though! Teal is one of my all time favorites. I have about 6 different kinds. I'm a teal hoarder.....

Base color: Sinful Colors - Gorgeous

Glitter: L'Oreal - Sparklicious

My most recent mani. I just got my rhinestones in the mail and went to town with them! This was my first attempt at half moons, as well as rhinestone application. Definitely my favorite one I've done yet! It was super easy to do, and a lot of my friends said they thought it looked professionally done :)